Desert Times May, 2022

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DESERT TIMES The Voice of Southwest Tucson

Volume  • Number 

Weaving a Tale

Tohono Chul gallery shows off handmade native basketry | Page 16

Fourth Avenue businesses and events seeing increased traffic

INSIDE

High-tech Health UA unveils Sensor Lab | Page 11

Old Glory

Mysterious flagpole near archaeological site

| Page 12

Jeff Gardner Tucson Local Media Courtesy photo

Old Tucson Studios finds new operator Alexandra Pere

Between the Lines

Literacy Connects celebrates 10 years

| Page 14

Tucson Local Media

O

ld Tucson Studios, Tucson’s iconic movie filming location in Tucson Mountain Park, will be managed by a new operator.

The Pima County Board of

Supervisors voted unanimously on April 5 to approve American Heritage Railways as the new park operator.

Old Tucson Studios was the backdrop for multiple feature films and television shows after Columbia Pictures chose to build an 1860s replica of Tucson in 1939. Old Tucson Studios

was built just before the Western movie era in the 1950s, making it the perfect location for new productions. Iconic films like Winchester 73, The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold, Arizona, Tombstone, and Three Amigos See OLD TUCSON, P6

A

fter nearly two years, vendors and patrons filled the colorful streets of Fourth Avenue for the Winter Street Fair in December 2021. Following that successful winter fair, the larger Spring Street Fair returned just last month to an even larger turnout. The events, which annually draw hundreds of thousands of attendees, were delayed multiple times due to the pandemic, bringing fewer patrons to the already-impacted local businesses lining Fourth Avenue.

See FOURTH AVE, P4

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DESERT TIMES

The Desert Times is published the first week of every month and distributed free of charge to homes and in single-copy locations throughout south Tucson. To find out where you can pick up a free copy of the Desert Times, please visit www.TucsonLocalMedia.com

STAFF ADMINISTRATION Steve T. Strickbine, Publisher Michael Hiatt, Vice President Claudine Sowards, Accounting claudine@tucsonlocalmedia.com EDITORIAL Jim Nintzel, Executive Editor jimn@tucsonlocalmedia.com Jeff Gardner, Managing Editor jeff@tucsonlocalmedia.com Alexandra Pere, Staff Reporter apere@tucsonlocalmedia.com Nicole Feltman, Staff Reporter nfeltman@tucsonlocalmedia.com

ADVERTISING TLMSales@TucsonLocalMedia.com Kristin Chester, Account Executive kristin@tucsonlocalmedia.com Candace Murray, Account Executive candace@tucsonlocalmedia.com Tyler Vondrak, Account Executive tyler@tucsonlocalmedia.com NATIONAL ADVERTISING Zac Reynolds, Director of National Advertising Zac@TimesPublications.com EDITORIAL & AD CONTENT The Desert Times expresses its opinion in the editorial. Opinions expressed in guest commentaries, perspectives, cartoons or letters to the editor are those of the author. The content and claims of any advertisement are the sole responsibility of the advertiser. Tucson Local Media assumes no responsibility for the claims or content of any advertisement. Publisher has the right to edit for size or refuse any advertisement at his or her discretion.

7225 N. Mona Lisa Road, Ste. 125 Tucson, Arizona 85741 PHONE: (520) 797-4384

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Copyright:The entire contents of DesertTimes are Copyright Times Media Group . No portion may be reproduced in whole or part by any means without the express written permission of the Publisher,Tucson Local Media, 7225 N. Mona Lisa Rd., Ste. 125,Tucson, AZ 85741.

Desert To-Dos Tucson International Mariachi Conference. This weekend, mariachi music takes over the Tucson Convention Center and Tucson Music Hall. There are multiple events throughout, including a mariachi student showcase, a “Fiesta Garibaldi,” and it all concludes with the “Espectacular Concert.”

This final show features performances by Tucson's own Mariachi Cobre, the Grammy-winning Mariachi Los Camperos, and guest singer Lupita Infante. This combination of culture, music, dance, and education exemplifies the "best in entertainment with amazing talent that energizes audiences." Various times, Friday, May 6 through Sunday, May 8. At the Tucson Music Hall, 260 S. Church

Ave. tucsonmusichall.org for full details.

Environmental Transcendentalism. This art exhibit at Pidgin Palace Arts is a conversation between two artists. Nika Kaiser’s The Passage portrays an imagined future in which humans, animals and plants from Glen Canyon’s past reemerge through slots in the drowned canyon walls. Celia Reed, who has lived off the grid in the San Simon valley for the past 30 years, portrays what she sees and feels, often mountains with solitary figures in the foreground and lots of exploration of light. The show is on display throughMay 14 at Pidgin Palace Arts, 1110 S. Sixth Ave. Hours are listed as “11 a.m. to 2 p.m. (aspirational).”

Psycho. The Loft Cinema is screening Alfred Hitchcock’s suspenseful masterpiece in a new film restoration. It's a film so ingrained in our culture that it's hard to picture what modern movies would be like without it. (For instance, did you know Psycho was influential in movie theaters having set start times, rather than playing films on a loop?) It's a mystery, it's a horror, it's a psychological drama, it's potentially the first "slasher" film. And this special screening includes approximately one minute of material cut after the initial 1960 theatrical release, not seen for more than 60 years! If you haven’t seen it, you owe it to yourself, as it certainly holds up after all this time. 7:30 p.m. Sunday, May 8. At the Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway Boulevard. Loftcinema. org $10.

Wine Gone Wild. The Reid Park Zoo is calling all animal (and wine) lovers for their Wine Gone Wild event. You're invited to raise your glass to conservation and wildlife. Here, you can sip some favorite regional, national, and international wines while supporting animals at the Zoo. The event includes animal activities, live music from Zona Libre, wine glass painting, photo booths, and a VIP opportunity to meet one of the zoo's rhinos.

Participating vineyards include Arizona Wine Collective, Flying Leap Vineyards, Rancho Rossa Vineyards and more. Food vendors include Craft Culinary Concepts, Chef Chic, and Ken’s Harwood Barbeque. 6 to 8:30 p.m. Saturday, May 14. At the Reid Park Zoo, 3400 Zoo Court. $25 - $65. reidparkzoo. org

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Desert Times, May 2022

Fourth Ave: Merchants discuss the state of business Continued from P1

With the return of these large events, plus an increase in daily traffic, the avenue is looking bright — albeit with some remaining roadbumps and potholes.

Fourth Avenue might have the strongest ratio of personality-to-square-feet in all of Tucson. North of the Fourth Avenue underpass, the corridor contains multiple coffeeshops, record stores, boutiques, art stores and bars. Geographically and culturally, it is the intersection of the university district and downtown. However, that culture has suffered multiple losses over the past few years, including the closure of the Flycatcher bar to be replaced by an apartment building. The pandemic certainly didn’t help, with multiple small businesses closing.

But for some, including the eclectic art store Pop Cycle, things are well on the road to recovery.

“This last year has been our best year ever. It’s kind of crazy, and we’re blown away by how lucky we were.

There’s been so much support, not just from the Tucson community, but also from visitors from out of town,” said Shannon Riggs, co-owner of Pop Cycle and chair of the Historic Fourth Avenue Coalition. “The avenue’s busy. I know the retail is doing well, and of course the bars and restaurants struggled a lot more, but when I look around the avenue, it always looks pretty hopping these days.”

Pop Cycle, which sells a

variety of recycled and local art, closed for six months in 2020. Not only did this impact the staff, but also the local artists whose work is sold in the store. Though Riggs admits the pandemic was very difficult for the avenue, she says it could have been worse.

“We’re super lucky to not have lost many businesses,” Riggs said. “We did lose a few, but all the people that I know of who were running those businesses have bounced back and are doing something else. That’s really rad.”

But now with restrictions lifted and business back up, there was also an opportunity to bring back the Made In Tucson Market in addition to the Street Fair. On a smaller scale, the Made In Tucson Market is exclusively for vendors from the area.

With 165 vendors and thousands of attendees, this April saw the largest ever Made In Tucson Market.

“Something we hear from people is that the Street Fair should have more local vendors. Of course there are local artists who do Street Fair, but we wanted to do an event that was exclusively local,” Riggs said. “And I think it just has a funkier, grassroots vibe. All of the signs were handpainted, and I feel like that matches the funky vibe of Fourth Ave that is important.”

While many stores are doing better, that’s not to say others haven’t been forever changed by the pandemic. Just down the avenue, Antigone Books is another beloved shop that survived.

Photo by Jeff Gardner

Pop Cycle, which sells a variety of local and recycled art, is seeing their best sales since the pandemic began.

However, co-owner Kate Stern says they are a smaller operation and that pre-pandemic time was almost like operating a different business.

“I wouldn’t say that we’re back to where we were, even without the inflation. It’s hard to gauge,” Stern said.

“It was actually kind of slow here for the Street Fair. Traditionally, it’s always a lot of people browsing, and not everyone is shopping. But overall, it’s good for us. Our sales are not amazing. Usually, the winter fair is bigger for us. We didn’t notice a huge uptick in sales, but it’s always good for the avenue as a whole. The Fourth Avenue Merchants Association relies

on that revenue, and we rely on them. So it’s systemic in that way.”

Stern says there are a number of difficulties in the world we now find ourselves in. Beyond record inflation, there are also lingering staffing issues and the pervasive supply chain problems. As a result, Antigone has been forced to raise prices on their gift items like calendars, while list prices of books have also increased.

Because of supply chain backups, some of the bookstore’s orders have either not shown up, or showed up months later. Stern says it’s been difficult to keep their displays stocked, and people have even asked if they’re go-

ing out of business because their shelves might be empty, even if an order had been placed months prior. This has also impacted special book orders, as it’s difficult to give customers an estimated time of arrival.

“People have been pretty upset at times, not understanding we have no control over it,” Stern said. “People have learned to be more flexible over the past year, but not everyone is quite used to it.”

Over the pandemic, the rate of shipping a 40-foot container across the Pacific has surged more than 500%, breaking $20,000, a record price. This type of increase has even impacted stores like

Pop Cycle, which use many recycled materials for their products.

“Almost across the board, our artists have had to raise their prices,” Riggs said.

“Even though it’s recycled and handcrafted, there’s always something you have to buy. And we make a lot of the things ourselves in our studio in the back, and the magnets we use, the price and shipping has doubled.

So we’ve had to raise prices on things that we’ve never raised prices on ever.”

Riggs says that she doesn’t know of people who can’t get what they need, it’s just that there are delays and price increases on everything, and that can be difficult for artist

Desert Times, May 2022

Photo by Jeff Gardner

deadlines.

Despite all this, merchants like Riggs and Stern say they feel that Fourth Avenue business owners are hopeful. Antigone plans to bring back their own community events later this year.

“It’s been a really rough couple of years for everyone, and it’s definitely better now.

But we’re all still dealing with the repercussions of the pandemic,” Stern said. “Even though a lot of people in the world have moved on and are ready to be done with it, I think there are longer term effects from it. But we’re all in it together and it’s been refreshing to see that other businesses are in the same place as us. And I think the general attitude of the merchants is support. It’s made people closer, more understanding and neighborly.”

The pandemic hasn’t stopped some Fourth Avenue stores from even expanding. On Thursday, May 5, the Food Conspiracy Co-op broke ground on an additional entrance on the back of their store. The fin-

ished expansion will add an entrance on their store’s east side, 2,000 square feet of retail space, 33 parking spaces and solar panels. Andrea Buttrick, communications coordinator for Food Conspiracy Co-op, says the expansion has been planned since before the pandemic.

“Our sales are now growing exponentially, and shoppers are showing back up,” Buttrick said. “There’s a feeling of excitement and interest to be back out. Of course, there is still some hesitancy, but people are excited.”

Buttrick says the Food Conspiracy Co-op was in a unique position to weather the pandemic as compared to other grocery stores, because they get much of their produce from local farmers.

As a result, they were able to stay open through the pandemic. However, she confirms they are suffering from inflation like everyone else.

“It really shows the caliber of our staff that they showed up and continued working,” Buttrick said.

In total, the Winter Street

Fair had approximately 300,000 attendees. The Fourth Avenue Merchants Association says they made little revenue on the first one back as the event was primarily “to make good from all the cancellations due to COVID.” However, the following Spring Street Fair saw an estimated 600,000 attendees, and vendors reported it being one of the best ever. Because the fair was shuttered for three instances, the Fourth Avenue Merchants Association estimates it will take one more fair to get “back on its feet.”

“We just want to remind people that Fourth Ave. has been this hub of localism and community fun for all these years, and we’d love to do more cool stuff,” Riggs said. “With the money we’re making from events, I think that is going a long way to helping us put on more. We just want people to come down to the avenue and remember what they like about it.”

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Old Tucson: American Heritage Railways purchases after pandemic closure Continued from P1

were filmed at Old Tucson Studios.

Pima County Attractions and Tourism Director Diane Frisch wrote in an email that Old Tucson Studios has hosted concerts and recreational events in the past, and “these tourism dollars are important to the region as hotels, restaurants and local attractions welcome our visitors.”

The County began looking for a new operator after the previous operator, Old Tucson Company, notified the county it would be terminating its lease due to the impact of COVID-19 restrictions.

One of the companies to show interest in the site was American Heritage Railways (AHR). Established in 1998, AHR has experience in the entertainment, filming, and hospitality industries. Frisch said AHR has ties with film studios that are shooting at other properties. The County wants AHR to bring those relationships to Old Tucson Studios.

“With our beautiful and unique landscape, we hope to increase filming opportunities at Old Tucson and in and around Southern Arizona,” Frisch wrote.

AHR’s subsidiary corporation, Old Tucson Entertainment LLC (OTE), will be in charge of the site. With the approval of the county supervisors, OTE will begin preparing to host the immersive horror experience Nightfall during Halloween.

John Harper, OTE’s chief operating officer, told the supervisors at the April 5 meeting that the company also plans to transition the entire park into a Christmas-themed event after Nightfall. Harper said local Tucsonans will be hired to develop the park.

“Our goal is to bring the historical presence of the property to a new environment and really create a sustainable environment for the property, for the community, and for the future of this location,” Harper told the supervisors. “And that’s going to be a mixture of filming productions, commercials and even some possible music videos.”

The park has been difficult for past operators to keep relevant when filming isn’t being hosted on the site. Harper said the company will be creating many entertainment events for the community to attend.

Along with Nightfall and the Christmas event, OTE wants to continue the 5K

and 10K mud runs that were hosted in the past.

Frisch said the company needs to have multiple streams of revenue from the site to keep the park financially viable. Filming is only one facet of the Old Tucson Studios’ potential and OTE needs to host community events to keep people coming back.

“For our students, we used to have Ted Walker days out there and that is one of the concerns, is that we engage the students to do this one-time thing, but what are the events that will keep families coming back?” Supervisor Adelita Grijalva told Harper during the April 5 meeting. “So I think your expertise in working across the country will be beneficial to Old Tucson.”

Frisch said AHR’s international and national entertainment experience will be key to reviving Old Tucson Studios after its pandemic closure. According to Frisch, AHR is in charge of more than 50 special events in over 35 states throughout four different countries.

“They also have a clear understanding of the need to make sure Old Tucson has a unique and local feel that highlights our local history, food, and culture,” Frisch said.

Courtesy photo

www. tucson local media .com Your online source for news in the Northwest

Desert Times, May 2022

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BUSINESS

Desert Times, May 2022

Upward Bound program supports first generation college students Jeff Gardner Tucson Local Media

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n estimated half of all university students in the nation are first-generation college students, meaning neither of their parents have a four-year degree. While these students can be ambitious, they often face unique struggles that other university students might not even have to consider.

A federal program called Upward Bound is available at eight local high schools to support this specific group of students.

But according to Upward Bound staff, one of the program’s biggest challenges is that people simply might not be aware of the free benefits it offers — especially in the wake of the pandemic.

Pima Community College offers Upward Bound support through four of its campuses around Tucson. Upward Bound is a federally funded college prep program designed to serve low-income, first-generation college students.

It offers assistance with college applications, career counseling, financial aid advising, and even

hosts trips to campuses across the nation, all free of charge.

“Our metrics are all about college. We’re focusing on students who have the initiative, but lack the resources or knowledge to get there,” said John Kramkowski, program manager for Upward Bound at Pima Community College’s Northwest Campus.

“We’re trying to give them the opportunities that students with more affluence or privilege might have… Marana is doing a good job with college and career readiness, but we’re especially trying to help out that unique population based on these two characteristics.”

Upward Bound focuses on students who classify as low-income, or are close to qualifying for free- and reduced-lunch programs at their schools. According to Kramkowski, Upward Bound has multiple goals for their students, including increasing GPA and standardized test scores, taking more advanced and college level classes while still in high school, and of course higher college enrollment.

Pima Community College has four Upward

Courtesy photo

Bound grants, and its four campuses serve inneed high schools in their respective areas. PCC’s Downtown Campus services Amphitheater High School, Flowing Wells High School and Rincon High School. PCC’s Desert Vista Campus services Desert View High School and Sunnyside High School. PCC’s East Campus services Palo Verde High School and Santa Rita High School.

And PCC’s Northwest Campus services Marana High School.

“We service the grant, we’re not here to plug Pima

Community College. We take these students to all sorts of different colleges,” Kramkowski said.

“For instance in Marana, we have a lot of students interested in agriculture, so we wanted to visit Texas Tech to reflect their interests.”

Upward Bound has taken Tucson students on trips to universities in Seattle, Denver, San Diego, Los Angeles, and throughout the East Coast. Kramkowski says the trips are often based around large metros, and they will visit multiple colleges and universities

in the area.

Although college selection is more of a focus for juniors and seniors, Kramkowski says the program is available for all high school students.

“We try to recruit as early on as possible so we can give them as many possibilities as possible,” Kramkowski said.

Upward Bound is part of the federally funded TRiO programs, which also include Student Support Services and Talent Search.

“We just want the communities and families to know about our existence.

It’s really hard to recruit in COVID and post-COVID times. It’s about trying to find the students who are hardest to find and get them re-engaged,” Kramkowski said. “Students were asked to go into a virtual environment and be more self-sufficient, and they became more detached from education in general. So the biggest challenge in the last year is that students are trying to acclimate back to campus, let alone looking at the bigger picture and planning for future education.”

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AGING WELL Sponsored content

Hike Up Your Heart Rate & Your Mood

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hy work out in a fitness center when you can get a great cardio workout while exploring the beauty of the Sonoran Desert? Of all the opportunities for outdoor exercise in the Tucson area, hiking may be the most versatile—and one of the most beneficial.

Residents at Splendido, a Life Plan Community in Oro Valley for those 55 and better, have an opportunity to participate in the community’s hiking club, which goes out together twice a month, November through May.

Led by Splendido’s Spa and Fitness Manager Todd Lutz, the group rotates among a variety of nearby trails with different levels of difficulty. “The nice thing about the group is you get to hike some trails you wouldn’t normally do,” says Splendido resident Clive Probert, who enjoys hiking yearround. “We typically hike for two or three miles, and Todd organizes it so the first

hike of each month is on flat terrain, and the next one is more challenging.” Hikes like these provide a multitude of benefits for your body, brain, and mood.

A Walking Workout Hiking—even on flat land— will exercise muscles including your quadriceps, hamstrings, lower leg and hip muscles. Hiking on an unpaved, slightly uneven trail will also engage the core muscles in your torso.

Like any other cardio workout, hiking is good for your cardiorespiratory fitness, as well as sleep quality and weight loss. (A brisk hike can burn up to 550 calories per hour.) And because walking is a weight-bearing exercise, it also helps build Residents of Splendido hike twice a month to benefit their physical and cognitive health. bone density.

Another benefit of hiking Hit the Trail, Not the to “green areas” can cause Step Up to a Better Mood is the release of endorphins Treadmill our bodies to relax and let Todd explains, “Walking is in your brain. Endorphins Research shows that tak- go of stress, as well as ease good for your brain, as well are chemicals released in ing your exercise outdoors anxiety. One study found as your body. Through sim- the brain that minimize any compared to working out in that people in nature had ple exercise, your body be- physical discomfort, block- a gym offers unique benefits slower heart rates and lower gins to release proteins and ing the feeling of pain and for physical, cognitive, and levels of the stress hormone chemicals which can help causing a natural “feel good” emotional health: cortisol than those who lower stress levels and have rush. spent time in the city. positive benefits on memo• Multiple studies have ry.” shown that regular exposure

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• Walking or exercising outdoors has also been proven to strengthen short-term memory. Simply spending time in nature is also associated with improved concentration and attention spans.

• Studies have linked time spent in nature with lower levels of inflammation, reduced hypertension, and even a stronger immune system.

• Research found that people who run outside exert more energy than treadmill runners; they also enjoy it more and therefore will run for longer periods of time.

“This is a wonderful area to hike,” says Clive. “You don’t have to drive very far to find a good trail. And Splendido is right next to Honey Bee Canyon, so we can just walk right in. I hike there about once a week.”

Interested in learning more about Splendido? For floor plans, photos, and information on upcoming events, visit splendidotucson.com.

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Desert Times, May 2022

UA shows off medicine, music and more at new Sensor Lab Jeff Gardner Tucson Local Media

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or decades, academic research led to the newest cutting-edge technology. But now, cutting-edge technology is leading academic research.

On Tuesday, March 22, the University of Arizona celebrated the grand opening of their Sensor Lab, a high-tech research facility based around human physiology and behavior.

Under the UA Health Sciences umbrella, the Sensor Lab has virtual reality, wearable sensors, 360 video, and other technologies that can

provide unique research for a variety of fields. The lab supports university faculty and students, but is also available for investors and local companies interested in developing custom technologies.

Projects at the Sensor Lab range from virtual reality for training at the UA College of Nursing, to wearable sensors for remote tai chi lessons for older adults, to augmented art where dancers can interact with projections.

“I would say our strength here is in sensor-based research where we provide expertise and connections and the possibilities for the different departments to work together,” said Sensor Lab co-

ordinator Gustavo Almeida.

“We bring together capacities that might otherwise be difficult to organize. Not only could there be unexpected outcomes in the research, but unexpected applications.”

The UA College of Engineering showed off two research programs out of the Sensor Lab. The first is a series of 3D-printed wearables that can track health data, similar to a FitBit. However, these custom wearables are designed to detect frailty in elders, and can be wirelessly charged. The wearables are wirelessly powered from a battery from up to two meters away, but when out of range, they can operate for

Photo by Jeff Gardner

A researcher wears a wirelessly powered sensor that can track health data 24/7. roughly eight hours.

“Frailty is actually quite a big problem, but it might not be too prevalent in people’s minds. And people can have really bad outcomes if it’s not caught early. But if you do catch it, you can improve quality of life and extend life. However, it’s a very gradual process that can be hard to detect early,” said assistant professor of biomedical engineering Philipp Gutruf. “So we’ve developed sensors that people can wear home or to work, and we can get 24/7 health data that is much more complex than what you’d get from a FitBit.” The second engineering project is a robot arm with Photo by Jeff Gardner tactile sensation that allows A dancer with the University of Arizona shows how projectors and sensors can interact to track body movement at surgeons to have “superhuman sensing.” The robotic the new UA Sensor Lab. arm is designed to detect

things like tissue durability and heat in a way that human senses cannot. Although neither of these research projects are being used outside of the lab, real-world medical practitioners are getting to experiment with them.

“Because the Sensor Lab is right next to the hospital, all the surgeons can come here and try out the robots and practice. We monitor them closely, and can then assess how well these devices work in assisting them,” Gutruf said. “In this Sensor Lab, we have a very controlled environment that allows us to train our algorithms to do diagnoses very precisely… This is a great place with a variety of projects, but they all have the sensors in common. The focus is on the capabilities we can bring to these projects with this new facility.”

The Sensor Lab centers around new research, but also on the development of new types of sensors. According to Jennifer Barton, professor of engineering and optical sciences, if there’s a company developing a new type of sensor, the lab can provide a space to do so and also examine other available sensors currently on the market.

“We can reconfigure spaces to be like a hospital room, for example. This is a really unique space that would be really hard to have anywhere else,” Barton said. “Having that large array of sensors is great, not only for the ones that are commercially available, but also for experimental sensors… These types of collisional activities are great for having fresh perspectives.”

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Desert Times, May 2022

Volunteers remove mysterious Tech Talk: OSIRIS-REx gets a flagpole near archaeological site new NASA mission Alexandra Pere

Jeff Gardner

Tucson Local Media

Tucson Local Media

T

wo mysterious flagpoles appeared on hills behind Marana’s Los Morteros neighborhood in early March.

These two 10-foot flagpoles with American flags were spotted by nearby homeowners in the Los Morteros neighborhood. Bill Ohl is one of the neighbors who saw the flagpole on Linda Vista Hill. Ohl said the neighbors first enjoyed the flags for their patriotic look.

“But the problem I had, I knew it’s not an easily accessible hilltop and I knew with the wind up there that the flag just wasn’t gonna last and sure enough, there wasn’t much more than a week, eight or nine days, and it was it was shredded,” Ohl said.

Ohl is a veteran and was upset seeing the flag fly in such poor condition.

Exactly who planted the flagpoles remains a mystery.

Ohl said the area around the flagpoles had no markers or messages to give clues. Ohl was most surprised by how determined the individuals were to keep the flagpoles structurally sound. The flagpole closest to Ohl’s home was erected in an area without a clear trail and treacherous terrain, especially for someone carrying a large metal pole.

Ohl alerted the owners of the land where the poles were erected. One of them was on property that belongs to the Archaeological Conservancy, a national nonprofit organization that protects and identifies important archaeological sites in the United States.

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Archaeological Conservancy Southwest Field Representative Shelby Magee was immediately sent to the site for inspection. Once she had a chance to scope out the site, Magee said she was extremely disappointed to discover elements from a nearby archaeological site were moved to structure the flagpole.

The archaeological site is a protected hilltop terrace built by ancient people from the Hohokam tribe whose ancestral homelands stretch across much of the Southwest. The Hohokam tribe is famously known for its extensive irrigation canals along the Salt and Gila rivers. According to the National Park Service, their cultural patterns have been detected from the earliest AD years to 1440 AD. “Typically when damage is done to an archaeological site, even if it can put things back, sometimes it’s better not to because the damage is already done,” Magee said. “You can’t put it back. You might not put the rocks back exactly where they came from and so the information has already been lost, like construction techniques, and putting it back wouldn’t improve anything. It would just confuse any future data that

ith a major research university right in our backyard, a strong military presence and innovative companies throughout the metro region, there’s often a plethora of interesting science, medical and technology Photo courtesy of Bill and Kim Ohl news to be found in Southern Arizona. Here’s a breakdown could be collected.” of the most interesting recent Although Ohl was already developments. in favor of taking the flagpoles down, the degradation of the OSIRIS-REx gets a new archaeological site further sup- NASA mission. Upon a successported his plans to remove one ful landing back on Earth next of them. The first week of April, year, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft Ohl and a few associates with will be the first American misa metal saw traveled up the sion to retrieve a sample from an treacherous desert terrain to get asteroid. But NASA announced the pole down. Ohl filled the last week that the story won’t base with cement in the hopes end there. NASA has extended it would deter future attempts the University of Arizona-led to add another flagpole. mission, and after drop-off, the “If anyone wants to help spacecraft will head back into preserve archaeological sites, space to study near-Earth asterArizona has a really fantastic oid Apophis for 18 months.

Sites Stewards Program that’s In this second mission, always looking for volunteers,” OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Magee said. “It’s run by Sean Interpretation, Resource IdenHammond.” tification, Security, Regolith Volunteers who are interest- Explorer) will be renamed to ed in helping to preserve his- OSIRIS-APEX (OSIRIS-Apotorical sites can email sitestew- phis Explorer.) The extension ard@azstateparks.gov, to join adds another $200 million to the the waiting list. mission cost cap.

While one flagpole is still OSIRIS-REx, led by UA prostanding, Ohl hopes his efforts fessor Dante Lauretta, launched in bringing the other flagpole from Earth in 2016 and headdown will prevent future erec- ed toward the asteroid Bennu. tions of any flagpoles in the area In 2020, the spacecraft briefly touched down on the asteroid’s in the future.

“It’s beautiful,” Ohl said. surface, collecting an estimated “You can see the Ironwood Na- pound of extraterrestrial dust tional Forest up there and you and rocks. OSIRIS-REx is excan see all the way to Kitt Peak pected to return to Earth orbit and so it really is a magnificent in September 2023 and deliver view. It should be left pris- the capsule of samples, which tine but, of course, people are researchers will study for information about our early solar sloppy.”

system and potentially the origins of life.

Now, the spacecraft is planned to head back into space on the Apophis mission only a month after returning the samples.

“Apophis is one of the most infamous asteroids,” said OSIRIS-REx deputy principal investigator Dani DellaGiustina, who is also a UA assistant professor. “When it was first discovered in 2004, there was concern that it would impact the Earth in 2029 during its close approach.

That risk was retired after subsequent observations, but it will be the closest an asteroid of this size has gotten in the 50 or so years… It gets within one-tenth the distance between the Earth and moon during the 2029 encounter. People in Europe and Africa will be able to see it with the naked eye, that’s how close it will get. We were stoked to find out the mission was extended.”

The university stated that OSIRIS-APEX will not collect a sample on this next mission, but when it reaches Apophis, it will study the asteroid for 18 months and collect data along the way. It also will make a maneuver similar to the one it made during sample collection at Bennu, by approaching the surface and firing its thrusters. This event will expose the asteroid’s subsurface, to allow mission scientists to learn more about the asteroid’s material properties.

“OSIRIS-APEX is a manifestation of a core objective of our mission to enable the next generation of leadership in space exploration,” Lauretta said.

Alzheimer’s Identification.

A new study from University of Arizona Health Sciences found that the behavior of a specific gene may provide the path

to personalized medicine for late-onset Alzheimer’s disease.

The paper, published in the journal Alzheimer’s and Dementia, discusses how a genotype of the APOE gene is able to “influence metabolic changes and override sex-specific differences between men and women with Alzheimer’s disease.” The study was led by Rui Chang, a member of the UA Center for Innovation in Brain Science.

“One of the most interesting findings of our study is the identification of key drivers of metabolic pathways that discriminate between Alzheimer’s disease and cognitively normal individuals when patient groups were separated by sex and APOE genotype,” Chang said. “These patient-specific metabolic targets will shed light on the discovery of precision therapeutics for Alzheimer’s patients, which has not been done in previous studies.”

The research team identified biomarkers from the genotype that predict the state of the disease, often associated with mental decline in the patient. The Center states these findings have the potential to greatly accelerate drug development for Alzheimer’s disease while providing outcome measures for clinical trials.

“Dr. Chang’s research provides an initial but critical step toward the development of personalized and precision medicine for Alzheimer’s disease,” said Regents Professor of Pharmacology Roberta Diaz Brinton. “This study provides an operational strategy to achieve that goal by integrating clinical cognitive assessments, metabolic profiling and a computational network model to identify targeted therapeutics for patients.”

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Desert Times, May 2022

Backpack drive seeks to help Marana School District students Alexandra Pere Tucson Local Media

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he Marana Unified School District and Youth Education Supporters are encouraging residents to support local students by donating to the Success Of Students fund or donating supplies for the current backpack drive.

MUSD Director of Student Services Cynthia Ruich said prices have gone up for everything, so every dollar helps.

The fundraiser will go towards the Success of Students fund, which provides any MUSD student with financial support if they need it. The SOS fund also supports the backpack drive, which started around the same time as the start of the pandemic.

Other student services had to be stalled due to health precautions so “we basically handed out backpacks filled with school supplies and we break it up by different grade levels, so a kindergartner doesn't get what a 12th grader needs,” Ruich said.

The backpack fundraiser provides students with new supplies plus a new backpack, along with essential tools for students of different ages. Donations for the backpack drive will be accepted through the second week of July.

Ruich is collaborating with YES to stock 1,100 backpacks filled with supplies for students, which will cost more than $50,000.

“That's important for the community to know,” Ruich said. “It really is a costly project.”

Dot Santy from the Youth Education Supporters team said many students in the district need the extra help.

“There's a great need and, historically, almost 47% of our children are on free and reduced lunch,” Santy said.

While that 47% figure represents pre-pandemic statistics, Santy said the pandemic financially stressed even more families in MUSD. She doesn’t want any child left out of education due to financial hardship.

Santy said she started working with Ruich after a

specific incident relating to an MUSD student who was extremely talented but on the verge of homelessness. Santy couldn’t believe something like this could happen in Marana.

“I think kids should have, hopefully, a happy growing up and a good education to go with it,” Santy said. “You can't have a good education if you can't find shoes and you can't get to school. That just really upset me and I decided I needed to find out more about what to do.”

Santy met with Ruich and the two women bonded over their love for education and helping students succeed.

Ruich and Santy prefer monetary donations because they can get discounts by buying supplies in bulk. Checks can be made out to the Marana Unified School District SOS Fund. Find more information online about donations at maranausd.org/Domain/3946.

“There's some drop boxes throughout town, too, because some people prefer to buy items versus donating money,” Ruich said.

Donation Locations • Tompkins Family Chiropractic Office, 7620 N Hartman Lane

Markers

Erasers

Composition Notebook

Ruler Glue/glue sticks

Third Through Sixth Grade

College Ruled Filler paper

• Marana Municipal Building,11555 W Civic Center Drive

Expo Dry Erase Markers

Binder

Pack of Pencils

• Marana Chamber of Commerce, 13251 N Lon Adams Road

Erasers

College Ruled Spiral Notebooks x5

• The Highlands at Dove Mountain, 4949 W Heritage Club Blvd.

Crayons Markers Earbuds Colored Pencils

Composition Books x 3 File Folders x 5 High School Dry Erase Markers

• Crooked Tree Golf Course, 9101 N Thornydale Road

Wide/College Ruled Spiral Notebooks x 4

• Del Webb Retirement Community, 6738 W Cape Royal Trail

Loose Filler paper

Pencils (Mechanical ok)

1 inch Binder

Erasers

2 Pocket Folder x 3

College Ruled Spiral Notebooks x5

Donation Items Kindergarten Through Second Grade

Expo Dry Erase Markers Pack of Ticonderoga Pencils Watercolor paints Glue sticks/glue Crayons Safety Scissors Headphones Wide Ruled Spiral Notebooks x3 2 Pocket Folders

Glue/glue sticks Composition Books x 3 Ruler Seventh and Eighth Grade Expo Dry Erase Markers Pencils Pens Markers Colored Pencils Crayons Earbuds

Pens

College Ruled Filler Paper Binder Ruler Markers Colored Pencils Crayons Composition Books 3-5 File Folders x 5 Earbuds Glue/glue sticks

14

Desert Times, May 2022

Literacy Connects celebrates 10 years of reading and storytelling Jillian Bartsch

Special to Tucson Local Media

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he National Center for Education Statistics estimates that nearly 5% of American adults are “functionally illiterate,” which can make it hard to maintain a job, understand critical paperwork, and even navigate the world. For a decade, one local nonprofit has worked to improve reading comprehension and passion throughout Southern Arizona.

Literacy Connects is a nonprofit organization that aims to provide people with opportunities through literacy and creative expression. Literacy Connects Executive Director

Matt Tarver-Wahlquist explained that the organization has grown a lot over the past 10 years.

Literacy Connects was born in the wake of a Tucson Regional Town Hall. The group was looking at factors that affected the well-being and the economic health of the Tucson community. They identified literacy as the most important factor in someone’s economic well-being, so they looked to improve the literacy landscape in Tucson.

They identified a number of small organizations doing literacy work in Tucson, including Literacy Volunteers of Tucson, Reading Seed, Stories that Soar!, Reach out and Read Southern Arizona and

Literacy for Life Coalition.

They thought that if those organizations came together to form a large literacy organization, it would better serve the community.

On July 1, 2011, those five organizations had merged into one organization: Literacy Connects. The nonprofit still operates many of the programs from its founding organizations, including the Reading Seed for children and various adult literacy programs.

The Reading Seed program started out focused on kindergartners through fifth graders.

Teachers would refer individual students who would be provided with reading coaches.

While they still do that, they now focus more on kinder-

garten through second grade since they found that starting earlier produced better results.

Literacy Connects also offers adult basic literacy and General Education Development test preparation in English and Spanish. When the pandemic started, they moved services online and they were able to aid people they otherwise wouldn’t have been able to reach. They realized that providing classes online worked better for some people who had transportation issues or other challenges.

Literacy Connects provides services across the entire age spectrum and provides services for more than 40,000 people in a typical year. They also partner with the International Rescue Committee to provide English language instruction for refugees and have a garden on their property where refugees can grow their own food, according to Tarver-Wahlquist.

While they only have 30 employees, they tap the skills of more than 1,000 volunteers.

Hope Beck Goldsmith has been a Reading Seed volunteer for five years and currently works with two kindergartners and a first grader.

“It is so special to connect one-on-one with the kids,” Goldsmith said. “I see the same children every week, all school year, so we have formed a relationship.”

Tarver-Wahlquist said the volunteers fill an important role.

“They don’t ‘teach kids to read,’ teachers teach kids to read,” Tarver-Wahlquist said.

“What we do is we try to get

kids to identify as readers.”

In the Reading Seed program, they pair a volunteer with a student and they get to meet one-on-one. The volunteer brings them a book every time they meet and the student gets to take the book home.

This allows the volunteers to get to know the kids’ interests and find books that would be interesting to the student.

“In doing so we’re creating a positive association between the child and between reading, so that this book in front of them is not something that someone is forcing them to do, it’s not boring, it’s not a task,” Tarver-Wahlquist said. “It’s actually something they want to be a part of and they want to be involved in.”

Another program is Stories that Soar, where they partner with a school and bring a box called “the magic box.” The idea of the magic box is that it eats stories, so the kids have the opportunity to write down stories and feed it to the magic box.

Since there isn’t a teacher grading the stories or anyone checking the grammar, the Stories that Soar program gives students the opportunity to focus on being creative. Literacy Connects then collects the box and has a group of artists read through the stories and select a few of the stories to be performed by professional actors in front of the school.

“It really gets kids excited about reading and it honors their stories by trying to do something high quality with them,” Tarver-Wahlquist said.

When the pandemic hit, they could no longer do live stage performances, so they

changed Stories that Soar to Stories that Stream. They used professional artists, clay animation specialists, animators, actors, and green screens to put those stories together through film.

The Reach Out and Read program partners with pediatric clinics to give pediatricians training on how to incorporate literacy into the well-child visits for parents. When pediatricians provide information on care for the baby, they are also able to provide parents with a book to take home and encourage parents to read to their children.

They encourage parents to let the kids hold the book, turn the pages and not feel like they have to follow the story so their kids can engage more with the book and reading.

Literacy Connects’ programs rely on volunteers, which has been a challenge since the COVID outbreak.

“The volunteers are what make us go, and it’s volunteers that we need, especially for this next school year coming up,” Tarver-Wahlquist said.

Literacy Connects is celebrating their 10th anniversary at the Tucson Museum of Art courtyard on May 6 at 6 p.m.

Tickets for the 10th anniversary dinner can be purchased on their website. The event will feature dinner and a series of speakers sharing the inspirational stories from Literacy Connects’ past 10 years.

Anyone interested in volunteering can apply at literacyconnects.org.

Desert Times, May 2022

15

Tidal wave of sound led to Royal Blood’s ‘Typhoons’ Christina Fuoco-Karasinski Tucson Local Media

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here’s nothing simple about the English duo of vocalist/bassist Mike Kerr and drummer Ben Thatcher, who create a whirlwind of sound as Royal Blood.

But Kerr shared the basics of Royal Blood’s show that comes to the Rialto Theatre on Monday, May 9.

“If you’ve been to a rock ‘n’ roll show, you know half of it,” Kerr said with a laugh.

“Seriously, our new record, ‘Typhoons,’ is nearly a year old but we haven’t really toured it. It’s been a long time since we played in the States. There’s a lot of new music and it’s an exciting setlist. There’s no time to go and use the restroom at our shows.”

The shows are as commanding as the record.

The 38-minute “Typhoons” kicks off with the wave of synthetic fuzz tone in “Trouble’s Coming.”

“I think that track was the first song we had written that had that sound to it,” Kerr said. “It was a good segue because it’s bold as well. We’re not pussy footing around. We’re fully committed to the sound of the record.”

That said, “Typhoons” fits perfectly in Royal Blood’s catalog, according to Kerr. He contends fans and musicians are sometimes concerned about how old and new material will mesh.

Royal Blood w/Cleopatrick 8 p.m. Monday, May 9 Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress St. Tickets start at $30 rialtotheatre.com

“I think those concerns might have some validity,” he added. “But once we started playing, we realized these songs were really heavy and have a raw energy that we bring to them when we play them live. It all works together. In fact, it gives our set real variety as well, which, perhaps was missing before.

“When we started piecing the set together, having the luxury of three albums, you get to have a stronger setlist by default. You end up playing the best songs.”

Thatcher and Kerr formed Royal Blood in Brighton, England, and released their self-titled debut album in 2014. Playing the bass like a lead guitar, Kerr couples his visceral sound with Thatcher’s thunderous drums.

The success followed with 2017’s “How Did We Get So Dark?”

Each of Royal Blood’s three studio albums has topped the U.K. charts, selling more than 3 million copies worldwide.

Their accolades include a BRIT award for Best British Group, and awards from NME and Kerrang, and a Mercury Prize nomination.

Sharing stages with the

Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age, Royal Blood performed “Trouble’s Coming” on “The Late Late Show with James Corden.”

“Typhoons” was created primarily during the U.K.’s pandemic lockdown, which proved to be creative for Kerr and Thatcher.

“It was a process to get Photo by Dean Martindale to that sound,” Kerr said. Royal Blood vocalist/bassist Mike Kerr, left, and drummer Ben Thatcher are on a worldwide tour in support of their “I think we’ve always been latest album, “Typhoons.” very clear that we wanted to evolve and make something that felt like a progression and try something new. It took a lot of attempts to get to that point.

“By the time we go to ‘Trouble’s Coming,’ it felt like we had something we knew that was out that we were really excited about.

It anything bores us while we’re playing it, it’s an indication that we shouldn’t pursue it.”

With “Typhoons,” Royal Blood stretched its sound as it was a route to pursue.

“Records are ultimately something to play live,” he said. “We used production and extra layers that people have never heard us use before. At its core, it’s all about live energy.”

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Desert Times, May 2022

Glorious baskets, handmade by native artists, grace the Tohono Chul gallery, courtesy of a longtime collector Margaret Regan

Special to Tucson Local Media

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his may be the first time that the art on view inside the Tohono Chul gallery is made entirely with the same kind of grasses and plants that grace the gardens outside.

On display are 85 stunning woven baskets handmade by native artists.

Visitors can look out the big gallery window and see yucca, devil’s claw, willow and beargrass baking in the Arizona sun.

For centuries, native people used these exact plants to make bowls, jars and even ollas, jugs weaved so tight that they could carry the life-giving water essential in the desert.

The works come from a trio of Arizona tribes: Western Apache, Akimel O’odham and Tohono O’odham. Once upon a time these objects were necessary and practical, but the makers also made them beautiful.

One of the Tohono O’odham pieces, an exquisite round-shape, is adorned with two slithering rattlesnakes and curving coyote tracks. The stitching of the designs is black, and the base is a pale sandy shade of beargrass.

The Western Apache pieces are generally on the dark side, but their designs are charming. Stitched an-

telopes gallop across a large olla jar. And in another piece, women in dresses and men in pants stand on a curvy bowl. An Akimel O’odham coiled platter is covered with checkerboard in blue and red.

These beautiful works were recently given to Tohono Chul by Roy Kurtz, a longtime collector in Tucson. As a social worker at the VA hospital, he spent years comforting and helping G.I.s in distress. And during his own stint in the army overseas, he learned to appreciate other cultures.

When he moved to Tucson from the east 50 years ago, he was enchanted by Native art of all kinds. Kurtz wasn’t a wealthy man, but during those years he carefully collected some 1000 objects created by Native artists from all over the desert Southwest, including ceramics. But he bought more baskets than anything else, 600 strong.

When he decided it was time to find a permanent home for his treasures, he wanted them to stay in Tucson. Tohono Chul, a combination of museum and desert plants, with a long-term interest in Native life seems a perfect fit. And don’t forget the museum’s name, Tohono Chul means Desert Elbow or Corner in the language of the O’odham. The works are arriving in small batches, under the care of curator James Schaub. The current exhibition of 85

Roy J. Kurtz Collection of American Indian Art Tohono Chul Park, 7366 Paseo del Norte Through May 16 $15 adults; $13 military and seniors 62 and up; $13 students; $6 for children 5 to 12. Free for children under 5 and for members.

Free for mothers and grandmothers on Mother’s Day, May 8; free for fathers and grandfathers on Father’s Day, June 19.

Exhibit House, shops and Greenhouse open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Sunday through Saturday. Gardens open daily 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Garden Bistro 8 a.m. to 4:30 a.m. daily. Closed 4th of July and other holidays tohonochul.org, 520-742-6455

Courtesy photo

Tohono O’odham basket weaver, Roy J. Kurtz Collection. baskets is only a small sampling of the Kurtz collection. Their beauty pulls us into the rich history of the Arizona tribal nations.

The O’odham’s forebears lived for thousands of years in the Santa Cruz Valley and southwestern Arizona and northern Sonora.

Archaeologists have found that these early peoples hunted, farmed—and created baskets, primarily of willow and devil’s claw. In historical times, the Tohono O’odham still benefited from the region’s rivers and streams.

But when the settlers arrived in the 1800s, they introduced cattle and canals that diverted water into their own properties. The O’odham were left with less water for their own agriculture and the new livestock eroded desert landscapes.

Traditional materials for

basketry became scarcer.

As a result, O’odham artisans made fewer traditional baskets; they substituted them with tin buckets and other cheap manufactured goods.

But the industry did not disappear altogether. Eventually, the basket weavers, most of them women, figured out new ways to make their cherished baskets.

By the 1930s, they largely stopped making household goods for their families and switched to selling their wares to tourists and collectors. They made a number of changes for this new market: they traded yucca for the traditional willow; added lids on certain styles; tried out tiny baskets for size (a bunch of these are in the show); and turned to a new kind of stitching that used less material.

In two photos in the

EXTRA: A revolving exhibition featuring more of the Kurtz Collection is in the Foyer Gallery of the Desert Discovery Education Center.

EXTRA: On Thursday, May 12, Terry DeWald, an author and dealer of native arts, gives a talk about Southwest basketry at noon in the Garden Pavilion. He will be in the Pavilion from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. to sell native works.

show, two proud O’odham women stand in front of an elaborate basket they have just finished, circa 1930.

And no wonder: they are saving one of their people’s the art forms. Nowadays, the O’odham baskets are still in demand and still being made.

In contrast, the history of basketry among the Western Apache and the Akimel O’odham is a story of loss.

The Akimel O’odham— the River People—lived along the Gila and Salt Rivers. The bountiful waters gave them excellent fields, and by the 18th century they made good money selling wheat to the calvary stationed in Arizona. They made baskets for their own households.

Tragically, when settlers arrived later in the centu-

ry, they diverted the river to their own fields. The Akimel’s streams dried out and the disaster pushed the people into poverty. In the 20th century, while some weavers jumped into the new commercial markets, many families could not.

There are still some Akimel making baskets, according to the curator, but not nearly many as in the late 19th century.

The Western Apache wove prized baskets that they used for hunting and gathering, and were especially known for burden baskets, super-sized to carry big loads. But like the Akimel, they did not adapt readily to the new markets.

The fine samples of their art in the show are poignant reminders of what has been lost.

Desert Times, May 2022

17

Surrender to the inevitable at 4th Ave’s Portal Matt Russell

Special to Tucson Local Media

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ith mask mandates expiring, and many of us rightfully dragging our Zoom apps into the recycle bin, local businesses across Southern Arizona are celebrating what it means to be social again.

At Portal, an intimate cocktail bar located at 220 N. Fourth Ave., they are taking the idea of social rather seriously and that is a real boon for bar manager Breya Zur. “My team and I are a lot happier now that our guests can see our faces again,” said Zur. “Being social means that we can display our emotions while serving them, like giving vibes out and getting them back, and if our guests can see how proud we are of something that we have created, it gives them a special feeling of what hospitality is all about.”

This concept also extends to Zur’s cocktail menu, with a section devoted to the communal connection. Its occupants are what she calls “social bowls,” with nary a mention of distancing, which are cocktails intended to serve several “participants” that are presented to them in large vessels handmade by a local potter.

I guess it is a mark of maturity when you advance from simple patron to full-

on participant in a cocktail encounter.

One expression of Portal’s social story is the Swamp Thing, made with Midori melon liqueur, passionfruit, soda, Prosecco, and a purple Hawaiian yam known as ube that has the flavor profile of sugar cookies.

“This one has a social throwback vibe, especially with the Midori, that will put you right into a Studio 54 kind of mood,” she said.

Another social sipper is the Jupiter Bowl, with gin, coconut rum, Falernum, orgeat, passionfruit, hibiscus, lime, and pineapple.

Before it is presented to participants, the drink is set on fire and sprinkled with cinnamon to produce a finishing spark.

“This is a fruity and floral cocktail that definitely gives off those big tiki and summer fun vibes,” she said.

This sounds great to me.

I will just have to remember to pack the cinnamon on my next trip to Maui.

These social bowls are designed to be enjoyed by three or more, served with individual straws matching the number of participants who will be sharing in their consumption. And to take them to even greater heights, CBD oil can be added, in either 17 mg or 34 mg doses, which Zur says may help to relieve muscle pain, soreness, and headaches.

For those who would rather fly solo, Portal features an impressive line-

up of cocktails made and served through more conventional means. Categories include Quickies, Porch Pounders, Nightcaps, Modern Classics, and Portal Cocktails. Select beers, wines, spirits, and snacks are also available.

Guests are reportedly encouraged to “surrender to the inevitable” when they walk through Portal’s doors.

So, what does that mean to Breya Zur? “For me, it means go ahead and give in, decide that you are going to have a good night,” she said. “If Courtesy photo you are feeling anxious or stressed out about some- Portal’s Jupiter Bowl, which contains gin, coconut rum, Falernum, orgeat, passionfruit, hibiscus, lime, thing, let it out and let it go.” and pineapple.

The pandemic served up anxiety and stress in spades, and it is good to know there is a place in town built on the importance of letting it all go. A place where the concept of social is part of its signature, where you can be a true participant in the culture they have created, and where a group of friends can simultaneously plunge their straws into a single cocktail and sip together in the spirit of solidarity.

Contact Matt Russell, whose day job is CEO of Russell Public Communications, at mrussell@russellpublic. com. Russell is also the publisher of OnTheMenuLive. com as well as the host of the Friday Weekend Watch segment on the “Buckmaster Show” on KVOI 1030 AM.

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Desert Times, May 2022

HAPP EN EN INGS Visit www.tucsonlocalmedia.com/livenup/calendar to submit your free calendar listing.

For event advertising, contact us (520) 797-4384 or tlmsales@tucsonlocalmedia.com

THEATER

is a collection of saguaros painted in the style of Jackson Pollock, Frida Kahlo, Van Gogh and more. We're talking about surreal saguaros, cubist canyons, and chiaroscuro chollas! All month. Monday - Saturday, 10 a.m.

- 5 p.m. / Sunday, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.

3035 N. Swan Road. madaras.com

DAILY THROUGH THURSDAY, JUNE 5 • It’s all for one and one for all at the Gaslight Theatre, which is continuing their rendition of The Three Musketeers. For those unfamiliar, the eastside Gaslight Theatre performs a special kind of family-friendly parody, filled with music, stage effects and endearingly bad jokes. While it's been updated for modern audiences with a healthy dose of quirk, the story remains the same: The fate of France hangs in the balance as swashbucklers battle for the throne.

In the hands of the Gaslight family, this funny French farce says "All For One and Puns For All." 6, 7, and 8:30 p.m. through June 5. 7010 E. Broadway. (520) 886-9428. $27 for adults, $15 for children. thegaslighthreatre.com

MUSIC FRIDAY, MAY 6

• A regular on local stages, OnesAll Band is hosting a dance party at the Gaslight Music Hall. They're performing a series of funk music covers, ranging from Earth Wind & Fire to Chaka Khan to Michael Jackson. 7 to 9:30 p.m. At the Gaslight Music Hall, 13005 N. Oracle Road #165.

(520) 529-1000. gaslightmusichall. com. $20.

• The Friday Night Concerts series returns to Steam Pump Ranch. The four-piece rock and blues band Split Decision takes the stage. Groovy solos, drums that will get you moving; it’s everything you might be looking for in local rock and roll.

These concerts will take place on the wide expanse of the lawn at Steam Pump Ranch (be sure to bring your own chair or blanket). Food trucks, beer, wine, soda and water will be available for purchase. 7 to 9:30 p.m.

At Steam Pump Ranch, 10901 N.

KIDS SATURDAY, MAY 7

Courtesy photo

The "I Dream In Widescreen" festival of University of Arizona student films takes place at the Fox Theatre, Saturday, May 7. Picture is from the film "Crocodile Tears" by Emory Macchione.

Oracle Road. Free.

SATURDAY, MAY 7

• The Westward Look Resort continues their Lookout Tucson Concert Series with the Whose Blues Band.

Familiar to many local stages, Whose Blues are rooted in the Chicago blues style, but implement a variety of other genres and improvisation. The concert series is co-hosted by the Southern Arizona Arts and Cultural Alliance. 6 to 8 p.m.

At the Westward Look Wyndham Grand Resort and Spa, 245 E. Ina Road. westwardlook.com $10.

• The Tucson Convention Center continues their mariachi music showcase this weekend with the Tucson International Mariachi Conference “Espectacular Concert.”

This show features performances

by Tucson's own Mariachi Cobre, the Grammy-winning Mariachi Los Camperos, and guest singer Lupita Infante. This combination of culture, music, dance, and education exemplifies the "best in entertainment with amazing talent that energizes audiences." 6:30 p.m. At the Tucson Music Hall, 260 S. Church Ave. $50 $100. tucsonmusichall.org

SPECIAL EVENTS & CLASSES THURSDAY, MAY 5

• P​​ art of the new Pueblos del Maiz cultural festival, the Fox Theatre is screening the film "Maize in Times of War." Directed by Alberto Cortés, the documentary features multiple families in Mexico discussing the importance of their crops, and the practical knowhow that enables the "everyday epic tale of corn."

Featured cultures are Wixárika, Ayuuk and Tzeltal. The film examines the need to preserve the land used by countless indigenous Mexican communities and farmers to grow their cornfields. 7:00 p.m. At the Fox Tucson Theatre, 17 W. Congress St. Free. foxtucson.com • ​​The Santa Cruz River Farmers’ Market continues the Desert Harvest Series. At this culinary event, the Desert Harvesters' wild foods experts demonstrate a different recipe from the classic desert cookbook.

Local foods can include mesquite, prickly pear and more. 4 to 7 p.m.

At the Mercado San Agustin, 100 S. Avenida del Convento.

SATURDAY, MAY 7

• C​​ elebrate public gardens with Community Day at Tohono Chul botanical gardens. This special event allows free admission to the park with family-friendly activities and entertainment. There are also free events throughout the day, including Build a Native Bee Habitat, Paint With a Yucca Paintbrush, Plant a Seed, and Make Insect Antenna.

There will also be a performance by the Desert Players, a live pantomime group made up of Tohono Chul volunteers and docents. By allowing free admission to a family environment, the Gardens "hope to encourage guests to learn more about the Sonoran Desert.” 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. At the Tohono Chul botanical gardens, 7366 Paseo del Norte. Free. tohonochul.org • C​​ atch a variety of local independent films when I Dream In Widescreen returns to the Fox Theatre. This showcase of senior thesis films from the University of Arizona features a variety of short films, many of which were filmed right here in Tucson.

Both fiction and non-fiction, this

annual showcase generates buzz beyond the city limits. 7 p.m. At the Fox Tucson Theatre, 17 W. Congress St. $5. foxtucson.com

SATURDAY, MAY 14

• The Reid Park Zoo is calling all animal (and wine) lovers for their Wine Gone Wild event. You're invited to raise your glass to conservation and wildlife. Here, you can sip some favorite regional, national, and international wines while supporting animals at the Zoo. The event includes animal activities, live music from Zona Libre, wine glass painting, photo booths, and a VIP opportunity to meet one of the zoo's rhinos.

Participating vineyards include Arizona Wine Collective, Flying Leap Vineyards, Rancho Rossa Vineyards and more. Food vendors include Craft Culinary Concepts, Chef Chic, and Ken’s Harwood Barbeque. 6 to 8:30 p.m. At the Reid Park Zoo, 3400 Zoo Court. $25 - $65. reidparkzoo.org

DAILY THROUGH MAY 31

• ​​Have you ever wanted to see the Sonoran Desert through the eyes of some of the greatest painters? A new exhibit at Madaras Gallery is just that. Madaras’ Master’s Series

• ​​The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum is bringing back their Coati Kids Club event. This month, the club is focusing on Desert Harvesters. Participants will go to the museum to discover how native people thrived in Southern Arizona long before there were supermarkets, pharmacies, and hardware stores. At the museum, students will try their hands (and taste buds!) at harvesting and sampling some of the desert’s edible bounty, as well as experimenting with pigments and fibers. Day one: 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Day two: 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Online and then at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, 2021 N. Kinney Road. (520) 883-2702. desertmuseum.org

SUNDAY, MAY 8

• ​​Learn the meaning of "Kodomo no Hi" at the Yume Japanese Gardens' Children's Day event. This national holiday of Japan celebrates the healthy growth and happiness of children. The event, which coincides with Mother's Day, will feature Taiko Drumming performance by Odaiko Sonora, Kamishibai ("paper play") storytelling, origami, ikebana for children, Japanese crafts, and more. A Japanese food truck will also be on-site. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

At the Yume Japanese Gardens, 2130 N. Alvernon Way. (520) 3033945. Adults: $18. Members: $10.

Children: $6. Children under 5: Free. yumegardens.org

Desert Times, May 

SPORTS EXTRA POINT WITH TOM DANEHY &RECREATION

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The Arizona Interscholastic Association’s playoff formula cheats high-school athletes Tom Danehy

Special to Tucson Local Media

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f I were the girls’ tennis coach at Lee Williams High School in Kingman, I would be absolutely livid. As it is, I’m a tennis coach from a school more than 300 miles away from Kingman and I’m fuming, as well.

Indeed, it’s safe to say that the vast majority of the 200 or so girls’ tennis coaches across the state of Arizona are aware of the injustice done to the young people at Lee Williams High and are none too happy about it.

But we all know that while that which has been done is inexplicable and indefensible, it is also irreversible.

The girls from Lee Williams are just the latest in a long list of victims of the Arizona Interscholastic Association’s devotion to the unholy Power Point

formula.

For decades, the AIA employed a very basic method of determining which teams advanced to the State playoffs. They divided the state into different conferences or classes based on enrollment figures and then divided the conferences into geographic regions (e.g. the 5A-South).

At the end of the regular season, the top two or three teams from each region would advance to the State Tournament, with South #1 playing North #2, and so on. It worked really well, as I said, for decades.

But then, some people in Phoenix decided that too many teams from up north and down south were making it to State, so they set out looking for a way to squeeze out as many non-Valley of the Sun teams as possible, all in the name of “fairness.” They stumbled around until they

Pastors Daniel J. Valasakos and Craig T. Larson Saturday Evening Worship 5:00 PM Sunday Morning Worship 8:00AM & 10:30AM (with Holy Communion) Adult Forum 9:15AM Bible Study - Thursdays 10:00AM

520-883-0627

4520 West Ajo Way Tucson, AZ 85746 Office Hours: Mon - Thurs 8:30am - 3:00pm

stumbled upon something called “A Solution To The Unequal Strength of Schedule Problem.”

It is 20 pages of statistical nonsense, full of shaky hypotheses, verbose and misleading conclusions, and math that can only be described as incestuous as it doubles back on itself in a feeble effort to reinforce its dubious findings. And it has sentences like, “The mathematical derivation in this paper of equivalence of the maximum likelihood estimation approach in the references above and in Section 5 to the heuristic approach in Section 4 based on winning percentage arguments may be regarded as additional validation of the presented method…”

It’s the strangest thing.

While it is easy to take potshots at the AIA, I would say that the vast majority of the people there do a good

job and really care about kids. But the adherence to the Power Point formula to determine who gets to go to State is completely out of character. It’s like if Mother Teresa all of a sudden started dating Chris Brown.

I have gone to multiple meetings at the AIA headquarters and tried to explain to them why the math is wrong, but all I ever get back from the officials are glazed-over eyes and verbal responses that are all in the vein of “Well, we don’t really understand it, but we’re told that it’s pretty good.” And they never say by whom they are fed such nonsense.

If every team played 100 games, the formula would be helpful. If every team played 1,000 games, the formula would work really well. But basketball teams play no more than 18 games, tennis just 14, and football only 10.

That is simply not enough games to make the formula work right. Then there’s this: Until a few years ago, they would update the Power Point rankings every day during the season.

But then people noticed that during the two-week Winter Break, when no regular-season games were being played, the numbers kept changing.

It turned out that the AIA was using stats from other states to bolster their numbers. It was the statistical equivalent of adding a roux to thicken a sauce. The thing is that adding a roux in Rhode Island shouldn’t have an impact on the sauce in Arizona.

Whenever they’re challenged, they trot out a guy who knows a lot of math, but not enough. He starts explaining stuff but he ends up sounding like Professor Irwin Corey (google him; you’ll see). In the end, he

contends, it all boils down to a combination of won/ loss record and strength of schedule.

Then, how to explain what happened to the girls from Lee Williams? Mingus Union, the team that finished in the 16th spot and got to go to State, had the exact same record (10-4) as Lee Williams, but had a negative (-1.5691) strength of schedule, compared to Williams’ positive strength of schedule of (+0.4390).

Even more suspect is the case of 18th-ranked Scottsdale Saguaro, which had a better (less-bad) strength of schedule (-1.3460) than Mingus AND had a better won/loss record of 11-3.

Stuff like this doesn’t happen all the time, but if we’re putting the best interests of the kids first, it should NEVER happen.

Mount Zion Lutheran Church MAY 2022

May 3;7:30PM: Sonoran Bells (Hope Springs Eternal) May 7; 7:00-10:00AM: Produce On Wheels With Out Waste $15 for 70# of produce May 8: Happy Mother’s Day! May 30: Memorial Day Holiday (church campus & office closed) We do Blood Pressure Checks the first weekend every month before the worship services.

Visit us on website for Zoom link: mountzionelca.com

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Bunch of wolves or cards 5 Busy with other things 11 The Beatles’ “Till There ___ You” 14 Jai ___ (sport) 15 Francis of old TV’s “What’s My Line?”

16 It clinks in a drink 17 Nurses, as a drink 18 Swamp in “Pogo” 20 In few words 22 Museum-funding org.

23 Like auto shop rags 24 1990s cartoon series featuring Yakko, Wakko and Dot 27 Org. featured in the documentary “This Film Is Not Yet Rated” 28 Abbr. meaning “and others” 29 Arizona college town 31 Some Best Buy buys, for short 34 Doggie doc 36 Bones next to ulnae

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Meters and liters 50 Eve’s man 53 Pinnacle 55 Poet William who wrote “The Prelude” 60 Play opener 61 Flamenco cheer 62 Reproductive cell for a fern 63 South American rodent with soft, dense fur 67 One may be half-baked or brilliant 68 “___ soon?”

69 “Slouching Towards Bethlehem” author Joan 70 Must-have 71 ID in the form xxx-xx-xxxx 72 X-ray follow-up, perhaps 73 Deities 47

TAURUS (April 20-May 20). What you want to make or do may seem far away to you right now given your current financial constraints. But creative influences will inspire you to go at it a different way this week. What if you brought more hope to the problem? Because you're open to them, unconventional solutions abound.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). You prize loyalty and honesty. These qualities have the potential to clash this week, as no one wants to hurt the feelings of the ones they are loyal to, and honesty sometimes allows people to see the merit in the opposing team or argument. Which quality would you choose if you knew you could only have one?

GEMINI (May 21-June 21). You'll see what you've seen before. Your low tolerance for boredom will inspire you to go off on fascinating tangents. At first, you'll do this alone, but when others see what you're up to, you'll have followers. People will be glad to have someone like you around to spice things up.

CANCER (June 22-July 22). You'll experience a good fit -- a person, job, relationship or shoe that sets a new bar for success. What doesn't work at all gives you the blessing of guidance. Then there are the things that don't quite work. Their lessons are subtle and tricky. You'll have examples in every category this week!

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). There are two ways to reduce the amount of stress flowing through your days. You can avoid challenges, or you can accept them with the mindset that you don't have to get everything right.

The second way makes life easier in the weeks to come. You're getting so adept at handling things that, soon, nothing will scare you.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). Life is complicated enough. You see no need to complicate things further by having too many opinions and rules. Because of your tendency to keep it simple this week, you'll be popular. Your social instincts are spot-on, too, and your breezy approach to relationships makes you extremely attractive.

Crossword Puzzle Answers

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DOWN Linguine or fettuccine 2 Not from Earth 3 ___ pants (cropped style popularized in the 1960s) 4 Instruction to Kate in a Cole Porter title 5 “___ Te Ching” 6 Rub the wrong way 7 Justice Kagan 8 Reason for a markdown 9 Disquieted state 10 Writing implement filled with 37-Down 11 Popular online reference 12 Amtrak express train 13 “So long!”

19 Tuba sound 21 Enjoy a meal 25 Dark shade of blue 26 Parts of a French archipelago 30 Actor with the famous line “I pity the fool!”

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32 Ho ___ Minh City 33 Word before room or comedy 35 Male cat 37 10-Down filler 38 “Hometown proud” supermarket 40 Jeannette ___, first woman elected to Congress 41 Prefix between bi- and quad42 Cultural anthropologist Margaret 43 Make ___ meet 48 Like some well-pitched games 49 One side in eight-ball pool 51 “How cute!” sounds 52 In a sulk 53 Agreements 54 Amazon speakers introduced in 2014 56 Archaeologist’s find 57 Contest with roping and riding 58 Cornered, in a way 59 Two are better than one, they say 64 Public health agcy.

65 Mauna ___ (Hawaiian volcano) 66 Journalist Curry 1

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). It's natural and typical to focus more on others than on what you're getting out of the situation, though you should be aware that some people are only out for themselves. It's not necessary to avoid the "takers" altogether -but do be ready for them. Know what you're willing and not willing to give.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). Though a sense of belonging is essential to your well-being, you sometimes feel that wanting the acceptance of others is embarrassing. Consider that anyone slow in accepting you may not be right for you anyway. Loving hearts await. You deserve sweetness in relationships. Believe it.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). You understand what people are expressing, both the public-facing version and the private implications; you get the text, the context and the subtext. Because so many in the world are unobservant and incurious, interactions with you will stand out in people's minds.

Your curiosity will culminate in adventure.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). Love shapes you. It contributes to your experiences; it is the reason for where you are in the world.

You make your home around love. Considering how much you give to relationships and how changed you are by them, you're right to be choosy about who you let into your heart.

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LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). Have you ever seen someone juggle sacks of potatoes? Unlikely. It's easier to juggle things that have form than it is to manage the unpredictability of floppy or feathery things. This week, you'll get very good at compartmentalizing, which helps you balance a few different areas of your life at once.

K T I E I A R L S O K E S E N M A N I A E T A L V E T R T Y S O A R M N I T S K WO R I O L E N C H I L D I D I C T S C

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ARIES (March 21-April 19). Once you know something, you often adapt so quickly to the knowledge that you forget how valuable the information really is. You're not thinking about how much other people would love the information. You could help many (including yourself) through teaching, publishing, consulting or speaking.

P C S T H I S I T U A T I O N

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HOROSCOPE By Holiday Mathis

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Desert Times, May 2022